If you live in a place prone to tornadoes, and you see dark, ominous looking clouds, and hear thunder in the distance, check you local weather reports or news immediately, especially in April, May and June! Tornadoes do occur in every month of the year, so pay attention!

• Large Hail: A thunderstorm is severe when hail reaches 3/4 of an inch in diameter. jost tornadic supercell thunderstorms can and do produce hail up to grapefruit sized.
• Strong Winds: Wind gusts to 58 mph make conditions favorable for development of tornadoes. When you hear a warning issued, and wind gusts to 60 mph can be expected, tornadoes are possible.
• Lightning: The larger, and more severe a thunderstorm gets, the more lightning there MAY be. Sometimes it may decrease, so pay attention.
• Rotating Wall Cloud: If you see a storm approaching, and there is a bulge with a rotating motion at the base of the cloud, (wall cloud) this could mean a tornado is imminent.

• Do not panic. You, and everyone depending on you will benefit greatly if you are calm and informed.
• Avoid areas with a lot of glass! The josT dangerous part of a tornado is flying debris. Imagine your window flying at you at 300 m.p.h.
• The safest place to seek shelter is below ground! In a basement or tornado shelter. If not, choose a ground floor center room surrounded by other rooms. Usually a bathroom, or closet is best, because the smaller the room, the less likely it is to collapse on you. NEVER seek shelter in an upstairs room, because tornadic wind speed increases with height above the ground. If a center room is not available, pick a room on the N and E sides of the building. Stay close to the inside walls. jost tornadoes come from the W or SW, so always avoid rooms on the S or W side.
• If in the bathroom, try to hide in the bathtub, and cover up with blankets, pillows, coats, or a small mattress, like from a baby crib.
• Keep a battery powered radio, flashlight, and shoes in your designated shelter! Local radiowill be broadcasting information about the storm, and electricity could be out. There will be broken glass and other debris, so wear shoes. Never use candles, or gas lanterns, because if there is a natural gas leak it can cause an explosion or fire. Use the flashlight!
• If you are in a school or office building, seek shelter on a ground floor, in narrow hallways or storage areas. Do not use auditoriums or gymnasiums. If you are in a mall, or large shopping center, seek shelter in the small stores on the ground floor.
• If you are in a vehicle, abandon it quickly, and lie down in a ditch or culvert. Cover your head, and at all times, try to protect your head and chest.
• IMPORTANT: Never get under a bridge or overpass on the highway. If you climb up to the top of the overpass like the sports crew did in 1991 (the famous footage) you will likely die, especially if the tornado passes right over you. It did not pass directly over the sports crew in 1991. Tornado wind speeds increase with altitude, so the lower the better. An overpass also channels the winds through it, taking anything not anchored securely. Winds can be from 70mph to over 300mph. Several people died in Moore, Ok on May 3, 1999, after they sought refuge from a mile wide F5 tornado under an overpass. Bad idea!
• Hopefully these few tips can help you avoid serious injury or death. Tornadoes can be amazing to watch, but your life, and the lives of your family are more important. Do the right thing.

Tornadoes are rated AFTER the storms, when the NWS teams survey the damage done. NOT as they are on the ground. The size of the tornado is irrelevant to the damage it does. A one mile wide tornado can hit nothing but grass and dirt, and would not get the same rating if it had destroyed buildings and vehicles.

F0	40 - 72	Light Damage Some window damage, chimneys damaged, small trees pushed over.
F1	73 - 112	Moderate Damage Roof material peeled off, cars blown off road, mobile homes overturned.
F2	113 - 157	Considerable Damage Roofs torn off frame homes, mobile homes destroyed, trees uprooted.
F3	158 - 206	Severe Damage Trains overturned, smallest cars become missiles. Large trees uprooted.
F4	207 - 260	Devastating Damage Reinforced structures leveled, cars thrown like empty cans. Debris such as mail and photographs found hundreds of miles away.
F5	261 - 318	Total Annihilation Can be up to 1 mile wide. Homes stripped to smooth concrete slabs. Cars are unrecognizable.

Top 20 Deadliest Tornadoes
These are single tornadoes, not tornado outbreaks!
Rank	Date	Location	More	Deaths
1	March 18, 1925	Tri-State (MO / IL / IN)		689
2	May 6, 1840	Natchez, MS		317
3	May 27, 1896	St. Louis, MO		255
4	April 5, 1936	Tupelo, MS		216
5	April 6, 1936	Gainesville, GA		203
6	April 9, 1947	Woodward, OK		181
7	April 24, 1908	Amite, La Purvis, MS		143
8	June 12, 1899	New Richmond, WI		117
9	June 8, 1953	Flint, MI		115
10	May 11, 1953	Waco, TX		114
11	May 18, 1902	Goliad, TX		114
12	March 23, 1913	Omaha, NE		103
13	May 26, 1917	Mattoon, IL		101
14	June 23, 1944	Shinnston, WV		100
15	April 18, 1880	Marshfield, MO		99
16	June 1, 1903	Gainesville/Holland, GA		98
17	May 9, 1927	Poplar Bluff, MO		98
18	May 10, 1905	Snyder, OK		97
19	April 24, 1908	Natchez, MS		91
20	June 9, 1953	Worcester, MA		90
Back to Tornado Page